Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
The 19th annual AYSO 8-and-Under Sportsmanship Tournament took place Saturday at Will Rogers State Historic Park, with all players receiving a gold medallion. Named after longtime Region 69 Commissioner Debbie Held, the round robin tournament made up of 10 boys and 10 girls teams was run successfully by directors Lauren Colahan (girls) and Kambiz Kamdar (boys) with the aid of numerous volunteers and Coach Administrator Corinne Briers, who set up the fields and goals Friday to ensure a smooth start the following morning.
Sportsmanship trophies were awarded to the girls and boys teams that displayed the highest degree of fairness and positive attitude. The girls award went to Coach Lauren Colahan’s Navy Seals, consisting of Catherine Armistead, Ella Carlitz, Harper Clark, Olivia Colahan, Anastasia Olympitis, Alexandra Shaw and Caroline Wyman.
Claiming the boys trophy were Coach Vinay Kohli’s Lightning Stingrays with the roster including Dalton Flowers, Julian Kawalsky, Milan Kohli, Finnegan Reilly, Everett Somer and Collin Weiss.
The Lavender Lions, coached by Blake Harrington, won all three of their games to secure first place in Pool A, rallying from deficits in their last two contests to win 3-2 and 2-1, respectively. Each player contributed to the cause, with Cora Harrington tallying the first goal in Game One, Sarah Gabayan and Liv Parton leading the team in scoring and goalkeeper Emma St. John making multiple game-winning saves.
Winning Pool B on the girls side were the Grey Wolves, coached by Andy Webster. Pool champions for the boys were Coach Jeff Archipley’s Lightning Strikers (Pool A) and Coach Christian Irwin’s Honey Badgers (Pool B).
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